Three Romanians decamp with `4 lakh from ATM in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala police on Tuesday recovered CCTV footages of three Romania nationals who allegedly fitted a skimmer device in an ATM counter here and decamped with `4 lakh.

The incident came to light when some of the customers who were robbed of the money — ranging from `5,000 to `40,000 — thronged the bank on Monday.

“We have collected the copies of their travel documents and alerted all airports. We have also sought the help of Interpol in nabbing the accused,” said additional DGP B Sandhya.

The employees of a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram — where the trio stayed for three days in the first week of July — have also identified the accused.

The police have also recovered the skimmer device that was hidden in the smoke detector in the ceiling of the ATM unit.

The chip in the card reader was missing and the money was withdrawn from various branches in Mumbai.

The police suspect that after removing the chip that contained security details, they might have made fake cards to withdraw money.

“At least 20 persons had lodged a complaint. We suspect there can be more victims,” said a senior police officer.

Most of the customers who received SMS alerts have lodged complaints. After the incident, the police and bank officials conducted a random search at many ATM units across the city. Many banks were flooded with requests of changing PIN numbers and blocking cards.

When the police examined the CCTC footage, they found that the three persons were meddling with the smoke detector in the ATM unit.

Nobody suspected any foul play as they entered the kiosk dressed as mechanics.

This is the first such case reported in the state.